Photos from Troy Davis Rally

Posted on 11/01/2011 by Public i

These photos were taken at a rally for Troy Davis in front of the alma mater on September 21, 2011 the day he was executed in Georgia.  Credit: Mary Gen Davies.

 

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“Secure Communities” Program Adopted by Sheriff Wreaking Havoc in Local Immigrant Community

Posted on 11/01/2011 by Brian Dolinar

The “Secure Communities” program being adopted in local counties across the United States has already caused much controversy in its short history. The implementation of Secure Communities by Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh has brought great distraught to several families in Champaign and Urbana. Pressure is mounting for communities to abandon this program.

Secure Communities was initiated under the Bush administration in 2008, but has been continued by President Obama. Despite adopting the campaign slogan “Yes We Can” (or “Si Se Puede”) first made popular by César Chávez and the United Farm Workers, Obama has deported one million immigrants since entering office. Secure Communities has two objectives: to send fingerprints of immigrant arrestees in local jails to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and to place a 48 hour “hold” on detainees for ICE to determine if they want to obtain them for deportation proceedings.

The original intent of Secure Communities was to target criminals who were the “worst of the worst,” but according to a report by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) put out earlier this year based on ICE’s own statistics, more than three-quarters (77%) of those arrested by ICE through Secure Communities had no previous conviction.

Secure Communities made national headlines when a story ran in the New York Times (2/26/2011) exposing plans to force Secure Communities into Chicago, where there is a sanctuary ordinance. Secure Communities was being implemented in the collar counties around Cook County to conduct what one ICE official called a “full court press” pressuring Chicago to go along with the program. Quinn placed an immediate freeze on the program in Illinois so that no more counties could join. New York and Massachusetts followed soon after.

By this time, Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh had already signed up for Secure Communities. According to documents obtained by a research group looking into the program locally, Captain Tim Voges attended a brief 15-minute meeting on August 25, 2010 where ICE representatives introduced the program. “Post 9-11,” Voges reported, “the federal government had identified a breakdown in communications between the local law enforcement community and the federal authorities.”  According to an email sent out by Voges, as of October 4, 2010 the Sheriff’s department was now “on-line” so that all future arrestee fingerprints would be sent to ICE.

The Sheriff clandestinely adopted this controversial program, failing to notify the Champaign County Board or seek its approval. Our research group spoke with the Public Defender’s office and several local attorneys, but none of them had heard anything about it. Apparently, even the Sheriff’s office lacks a basic understanding. When our group took a tour of the satellite jail this last March, Sergeant M.K. Johnson told us it was 72 hours, not 48, that he was required to keep individuals.

The way Secure Communities is supposed to work, anyone suspected of being an undocumented immigrant has an automatic hold placed on them when they are booked into the jail. Their fingerprints are sent off to ICE for a background check. Immigration then has 48 work hours to come pick the person up if they want them. If they do not arrive, the individual is to be released. Since our research group has convened, we have identified three cases that illustrate how Secure Communities has been loosely practiced in Champaign County.

The first is the story of Juan Mendez [all names withheld] who claims he was mistakenly identified as being involved in a fight in Champaign. A group of guys had been in the fight, one of them also named Juan, who later left. Juan Mendez says he joined the group after the incident. When police arrived, they were looking for a “Juan,” and they arrested him. After being booked, he was told he had a federal hold placed on him. He says he was threatened with deportation if he posted bond. He subsequently spent four months in the county jail. He finally took a plea bargain. His lengthy stay at the jail was a significant cost to Champaign County taxpayers, not to mention a serious violation of his civil and human rights.

The second story is of Alonzo, who was arrested one Saturday for a DUI. Born in Mexico, he was brought to the United States when he was four years old and has never been back to his country of origin. Now 22, he grew up in Urbana, went to Urbana High School, and has a one year-old daughter with an African American girlfriend who also grew up locally. Alonzo says he was also told that if he posted bond he would be picked up by immigration authorities. His family was conflicted, but went the following Thursday to pay bail. They had to wait an additional 48 hours, excluding the weekend. He was set to be released on Monday afternoon. During this period, the family was terribly frightened that Alonzo was going to be taken away. On Monday morning, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Alonzo was picked up by ICE and transported to their holding facility at the Jefferson County jail. He was twice transported back and forth to Chicago. He was finally released that Thursday after posting bond and returned home to his family.

The most recent case is of Maria, a single mother of two boys, 8 and 18 years old. On Saturday afternoon, September 10, 2011, she was on the way to pick up one of her sons from soccer practice when she accidentally rear-ended a car at the four-way stop at Race and Windsor. Although there was no damage to the cars, Urbana police were called. Officers Elizabeth Ranck, Brian Willfong responded, and Sergeant Adam Chacon later showed up to serve as a translator. Maria says she asked police to call her son, but was denied. She was arrested and booked at the county jail where her fingerprints were sent to ICE. When she was told there was a federal hold, she planned for deportation.

I received a call about Maria the following Wednesday afternoon. A judge had agreed to have her released on her own recognizance. It had been more than 48 hours, ICE had not arrived for her, and yet she was still being held in the jail.

I called now Lieutenant Johnson at the jail. I explained that Maria’s 48 hours had expired. “This is new to me too,” Johnson replied. He was prepared to hold her indefinitely until ICE showed up. I told him he was subjecting Champaign County taxpayers to a potential law suit. He agreed to take my number and call back.

I got a call from Sheriff Walsh himself about 30 minutes later. “I want to thank you,” he said. I asked if he understood how the 48 hour hold was supposed to work. “Mistakes happen,” he told me. He agreed to release Maria after being processed.

Maria ran home in the rain from the satellite jail on Lierman in East Urbana to her apartment in Champaign. After four days in jail, she was finally home with her two boys who embraced her as she walked in the front door.

These few cases indicate that this program is only creating increasingly insecure communities throughout Champaign-Urbana. Other records show an increasing number of immigrant arrestees being held in the Champaign County jail. With the Sheriff now stumping for an expansion of the satellite jail, we can guess that the new bed space will be used to hold local immigrants.

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Hard Up for Work

Posted on 10/23/2011 by Ricky Baldwin

By Ricky Baldwin

Mary is laid off from her job in food service at the University of Illinois four times a year for a total of four and a half months. During this time, she does not count as unemployed.

Thousands of workers in Champaign County alone face an involuntary loss of work for weeks or months at a time, and lose homes, cars, get sick without access to care, or may go hungry or homeless, without ever being counted as unemployed. Nationally these numbers are in the millions.

Champaign County’s official unemployment rate dropped from 9.7 to 9 percent between August of 2010-2011.  Yet, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, there were almost 3000 fewer people working at the end of this period. The News-Gazette explained the paradox by noting that “for statistical purposes” many people without jobs do not count as unemployed.  But the choice is political; it gives the appearance of a stronger economic system than the real one we experience.

Who Counts?

The official ‘U3’ unemployment rate counts only those who are out of work and eligible for unemployment benefits. The current count is at about 14 million. Anyone who cannot show they looked for work this month will not be counted. This includes anyone hampered in their search by inadequate transportation, computer access, or other constraints. They are considered “marginally attached” to the workforce, and are officially counted at about 2.5 million at present – including about 1 million “discouraged workers” who have given up looking (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Students are not counted as unemployed, whether or not they look for work.

An injured worker may lose a third of his or her income on workers’ comp, if the claim is approved at all in the current climate of ‘reform’ (a.k.a. cuts). Either way, he or she will not count.

One of the major differences between previous recessions and the current crisis is the dramatic increase in involuntary part-time work, which officially impacted 9.3 million workers as of September 2011. None of these workers count.

The federal government started tracking the ‘discouraged,’ ‘marginally attached,’ and part-time workers who would prefer full-time work in 1995 with the “U6” rate. This assessment places current unemployment at 16.6 percent. However, even this more robust rate does not count students, disabled or injured workers, self-employed workers with shrinking hours, formerly full-time workers forced to accept short-term contracts with low pay and no benefits, prisoners, or small farmers and business owners who may be struggling to keep the lights on.

What to do – and what not to do – about it

While Congressional debates raged over the phony debt crisis, the jobs crisis deepened. By the time the spotlight swung to job creation, the boundaries were drawn, the choices narrowed to two: either cut taxes and spending a lot, or cut a little and spend a little. New Deal-type ideas, widely credited with ending the Great Depression and leading to an era of higher living standards, were officially off the table. These reforms, based on the work of economist John Maynard Keynes, including the Social Security Act, minimum wage and the eight-hour day, the right to join a union, and extensive investment in public works, did not fall from favor – they were pushed. After resisting continuous push-back from moneyed interests from the start, they have been increasingly undermined from the mid-1970s on. Since then, income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans have been cut nearly in half. Capital gains, where the big bucks are, and inheritance taxes have been suppressed, while sales and other regressive taxes take a much larger share of income from all but the wealthiest citizens.

The result of decades of deregulation, union-busting, Reagan’s ‘supply side’ economics followed by Clinton’s ‘free trade’ agreements and welfare ‘reforms,’ and the Bush tax cuts, has been a massive redistribution of wealth upward. By 2007, the richest ten percent of Americans controlled two-thirds of the country’s net worth. Income inequality reached an all-time high the same year. This devastating reality was revealed in a study by University of California economist Emmanuel Saez, which Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman called “amazing.”

What is truly amazing is that it took so long, given the power and influence that accompanies wealth, and the overlap of interest among our governmental representatives. More than half in Congress are millionaires; one in five is worth over $10 million. From 2008 to 2009, while the country’s median income dropped by upwards of 3 percent, the collective personal wealth of Congress increased by 16 percent. When the bubble created by top-heavy wealth accumulation and wild deregulation finally popped in 2007-9, unemployment increased by 102 percent and Americans’ home equity declined by 35 percent, but Wall Street profits increased by 720 percent.

Given this, it is really no wonder that the billionaire Koch brothers and their political allies continue to advocate more of the same. It works, after all, for its wealthy proponents. But in terms of job creation, these policies have proven an abject failure. US businesses now sit on an estimated $3 trillion in revenue, while job growth is pitiful at best. The government at various levels has enacted all sorts of tax cuts and austerity measures in the name of spurring economic growth while cutting approximately half a million public jobs since 2008. This has resulted in further decreasing the tax base, taking more money out of circulation, and creating a ripple effect that impacts many thousands more. Furthermore, over 2 million Americans will be cut off unemployment benefits by February 2012 if Congress does not pass an extension (Wall Street Journal, 10-15-11).

From the bottom up

In the 1930s, writes UIUC History Professor Jim Barrett, “Coal miners in the anthracite region, thrown out of work and faced with a cold winter without heat, set up ‘bootleg’ mining operations, providing energy for the family and friends and marketing the pilfered coal on a small scale in Philadelphia and other cities.” Workers, “bartered their skills: An electrician turned your power back on for a basket of homegrown vegetables,” or a carpenter did repairs in exchange for a haircut. And in some cities “the Unemployed Councils of the USA … led resistance to evictions and demonstrations to demand new government policies,” (IPRH Blog, Sept. 16, 2011). The Mayor of Chicago was forced to declare a moratorium on evictions in 1931. Marchers in state capitals and Washington DC demanded unemployment insurance, “a major factor in the eventual passage of the 1935 Social Security Act.” Without the organized unemployed movement and the industrial unions, “the meager welfare measures of the depression might have been quickly dismantled,” but these movements took their cause to the streets and to the voting booths, and maintained gains for many years. Since that time, unions have been beaten down to 6.9 percent in the private sector. Public sector union membership is still over 30 percent, however, which explains why they are in the cross hairs of the Kochs and others.

In today’s crisis, the unemployed and underemployed have begun organizing again in pockets around the country. In January of 2009, Tom Lewanowski, an unemployed union electrician in Indianapolis, started organizing unemployed and anxiously employed workers, blocking a proposed shutoff of state benefits and demanding better use of federal recovery dollars. Jobs With Justice took to the streets, calling for a “Peoples Bailout.” Under intense fire, Wisconsin unions seemed to wake from a long sleep. And most recently the “Occupy” movement centered on the Wall Street has marched on banks and protested corporate power in New York, Chicago, Champaign, around the country, and around the world. Chris Hedges, senior fellow at The Nation Institute, voiced the sentiments of many in labeling this as a “movement too big to fail.” He also points out that this is just a first step. The next steps are likely to be the biggest.

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Speak Cafe

Posted on 10/21/2011 by Jasmine Wright

There aren’t many avenues where the oppressed can speak their truth to power and feel completely safe from ridicule, ostracizing, and threat. Speak Café fills that void in Champaign-Urbana, being a positive place where all people of all ages can go, listen, rap, perform poetry, read, and just belong to a community that informs and empowers.

 

Speak Café — standing for Song, Poetry, Expression, Art and Knowledge, is both a space and a performance opportunity. The events are filled with activists who participated in actions and events including those such as the civil rights and Black Power movements, project 500 at University of Illinois, the annual Unity march, and the demonstrations for Troy Davis. It is these movements, and the ideas and experiences related to the concepts of Race, Roots and Resistance that inspired the creation of the Speak Café in the first place.

 

The first Speak Café was a project developed by students participating in Professor William Patterson’s class, Cash Rules Everything Around Me  (C.R.E.A.M.), in 2005. Patterson, who has lived in North Champaign with his family for most of his life, challenged his students to create a civic engagement project that engaged both the Illinois Campus and CU Community.

 

What began as a class project has taken on a life of its own complete with dedicated individuals who keep it going. Aaron Ammons is one such person. An activist, poet, and organizer in our community, Ammons has been hosting Speak Café for 5 years. He says that the objective of Speak Café is to, “bring the broader community and campus together to create a synergy when the academy and research meet the everyday indigenous knowledge. The other objective is to archive these experiences and the poets.”

 

When asked if Speak Café was fulfilling its objective, Ammons said yes. In particular, he noted that the Speak Café is an important tool to bridging the gaps between those whose lives are embedded in the community and those whose lives revolve around the university (including students, faculty, and staff).

 

“The everyday experiences and life long experiences are not always noticed by students and faculty because there are two different worlds. But the experiences are unique because it’s a smaller town and they should be shared.”

 

The most recent Café was held on Thursday, October 6th. The specific theme of the night was  “Carrying the Torch with Spoken Word.” Café organizers explained that this refers to, “how we use our verbal/written ability to carry on the legacy of Black Power.”

 

Jasmine Mckinna, a senior at the university, performed an original poem called Ode To the Chicago Youth at the most recent Café. Jasmine comes from the west side of Chicago, and has a lot to say about the oppression faced by Chicagoans and the impoverished everywhere. Mckinna believes that exposure is important to spreading knowledge.

“I feel that it’s easy to challenge people. It’s easy to sit there and listen, even in my piece is say, ‘is my only contribution to write a poem and is your only contribution to listen to it?’ so I feel like it’s important to let people know that there is something that you can do,” says Mckinna. “If you hear it and it affects you, then that means that you are at least a little bit passionate about it and you can go out and talk to your family, friends or even Speak Café about it.”

 

The Speak Café is hosted the first Thursday of every month at The Palette in the Krannert Art Museum from 7-9 pm. The next one is scheduled for November 10th and the theme will be, “The Pen, the Paper, the Point.” Neither experience nor talent is need to be a part of Speak Café, but as organizers note on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=287307927951452 “it’s always good to practice your craft.”

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Credit as a Cover for Cutbacks Over the Past Thirty Years

Posted on 10/20/2011 by Michael Brun
By Michael Brün
Two facts are important for understanding our current economic situation and how we got here. The first is that the finance industry has grown from comprising less than one tenth of our economy in the 80s to over a sixth of our economy today.  The second is that most debt has not come from extravagant purchases, but from  people doing what they felt they were expected to do; people seeking to conform to our cultural definitions of what an American life looks like.We tend to view borrowing as an individual choice, and therefore, debt is a personal consequence/responsibility. Here we are talking about household debt, not government or business debt.  The overwhelming prevalence of borrowing suggests more complex factors. Why have ordinary people borrowed so much over the past thirty years that many face all kinds of hardships now trying to repay or reduce their debt loads?

Of course the finance industry “pushed” credit in a number of ways. That’s partly due to the entrepreneurial zeal of ambitious financiers, but it was tolerated by a government that wanted to hide from the political consequences of unpopular cutbacks.  You can say people were bamboozled if you want to blame the finance industry; or that people were stupid, overly optimistic, or just too shortsighted in their planning if you want to blame the borrowers. You can also blame poor governement regulation. Yet our current problems are not just about gullible and greedy households, criminal and greedy lenders, and incompetent government.  People and institutions have had “moral” shortcomings for as long—at least—as records exist and yet haven’t always been in this type of trouble.  What is special about now?

Thirty Years of Cutbacks and Cost Increases

One way we can better understand this is through exploring choices in a specific area over the past 30 years, take the education sector.  Costs for tuition, fees, housing, textbooks, etc. have outpaced inflation over this entire period.  At the same time, state grant programs were eliminated and federal programs curtailed.  These cutbacks engendered some resistance from the “usual suspects” in left wing and union movements, but otherwise were apathetically accepted.  Why, for thirty years, would the entire middle class population of students and their parents so willingly and uncomplainingly take on a huge extra burden?

The answer is that the finance industry, with some government support, stepped in to relieve the immediate pain.  The student loan industry grew fantastically during this time.  Because of the availability of student loans, the upfront cost of college remained relatively low. The implications of switching from a system of grants to one of loans were not understood because opportunity for social advancement is supposed to be a right.  Until recently, each generation in the US expected to do as well or better than the previous generation. When a new generation of students were offered loans in place of grants, the majority accepted the change as a healthy sign of shrinking government, spreading of markets, and a spur to economic growth.  That’s what they were told the cuts were all about.  They were also told that taxpayers were no longer interested in spending so much on government programs.  They accepted this too. In fact, many parents rejoiced at the Reagan tax cuts of the 1980s and the Bush tax cuts of 2003.

Most people did not understand that, while they might save a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars from tax cuts, a relatively few wealthy people saved tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars; in some cases even millions.  The result was less revenue for government programs. This meant that most non-wealthy people ended up paying much more in extra costs than they saved from lower taxes.  However, it was not spun this way. Most thought they were investing in their future in a modernized economy, and that they would easily be able to pay off the debt via better jobs and higher paychecks.  Why complain about inequality if everyone is going to be better off in the future? The real cost difference was felt only years later, after graduation, when the time came to pay back loans with interest.

Good Calculations Made With Bad Assumptions

So it is that many people ended up in debt, not because they were particularly shortsighted or greedy or foolish, but because they made their calculations based on two false assumptions: that they could expect to make as much or more than their parents had, and that the financing changes would help them along rather than cause their ruin.  They trusted the shrinking government and the growing market.  In short, they put their faith in capitalism.

Today, the up and coming generation does not expect to do as well as previous generations. The old assumptions have been rejected, but a new set of assumptions have yet to emerge, and that is actually problematic.  Assumptions can get us in trouble, but try to make a long range plan based only on what you know for sure–it won’t work.  New assumptions will help reshape our society, for good or ill. What will they be?

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Student Debt Will Death of the Students to Come

Posted on 10/20/2011 by Jasmine Wright

Tuition and Student Debt: The Future of Universities Hangs in the Balance
Jasmine Wright
Student Debt is a hot topic this season because of the failing economy and remarkably high unemployment rate. The question on most students’ minds is, “is a college degree still worth the amount that you pay for it?” It’s a hard question to answer for most people because of our bleak reality.
Today in America, those who don’t obtain a college degree rarely have a bright future. Most Americans without a college degree that are now entering the job market will make less than 30,000 dollars a year unless they become Kim Kardashian or dabble in illegal pursuits.
From childhood, we are born and raised with the idea that if we go to college, do well in school, and pay our dues, then we will have a great career and be immersed in the worlds finest things; the American Dream. Where is the American Dream today? With the unemployment rate at 9.1% (or higher) and spiraling  tuition costs, that dream may exist only while we are sleeping.
According to Val Smith, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at UIUC, the numbers of students taking out loans is close to half of the student body and shows no signs of decreasing. In the 2009-2010, 17,554 students (both undergraduate and graduate) took out loans because of the skyrocketing price of tuition. Smith highlighted how debt can build on top of debt: Because of the cold and unwelcoming job market for students, and the perception that you won’t get anywhere without a masters degree, many are driven to graduate school. This pushes many further and further into debt. The significance of this trend has yet to be fully understood.
I spoke with some students around campus to see what others are thinking. Senior in Psychology, Tyeshia Davis shared her knowledge of loans.
“I know many people that have taken out loans for school. I thought that my total in loans after I graduate was too much until I spoke with some people who acquired that much debt in just one year (at this university). Some of these people have to turn to outside lenders because they federal loans and grants aren’t sufficient in covering the cost of their education.”
But what do loans do for a student? Do they keep them enrolled in a university when they have no other means? Yes. Do they also keep students under the thumb of the government and business paying their monthly dues to “the man,” long after they’ve graduated? Yes. Repayment is taking more and more time in our current economy because of the nonexistent or low paying jobs available to new graduates.
So, is a college degree still worth it? Davis doesn’t know anymore.
“I think that it is sad that many people go into debt trying to gain an education because they truly believe in the ideology that having a college degree is necessary to have a good job and make a lot of money. With so many people attending college and so few jobs being created, people are starting to have to work even harder to land a spot at a company of their choice. This makes me believe that pursuing a college degree is a gamble. You not only have to be educated, but you also have to work on your people skills, gain experience through volunteering and interning, build a network, refine your interview skills, and hope that all of this is good enough to impress potential employers.”
Paul Timlin, a junior in broadcast journalism who takes out loans for his housing, is more optimistic.“A college degree still has value, but not at the premium price of over $25,000 a year. Over the last thirty years, tuition prices have gone up tens of thousands of dollars, while wages have increased barely.”
London Walther, a student in Urban Planning, has managed to avoid taking out student loans thanks to his father who started a college fund for him when he was born. Walther sympathizes with those who take out student loans, especially the minorities.
“I believe that the high costs in tuition and high interest rates actually deters minorities and the impoverished from attending college and established universities. The poor who do wish to attend college will often have to settle for community colleges and city colleges in order to get some sort of degree. I feel this is why we don’t see as many African Americans and Latinos at this University as other state schools. They get into the mindset that college is ‘too expensive’ or ‘not for me,’ continuing the cycle. It’s a sad truth.”
While those I spoke with had mixed views about the future, they also suggested some ways to help lower tuition which would inevitably lower student debt.
Timlin suggested, “Tuition prices need to be lowered to match the scale of the current economy. The tuition prices should be proportional to the average earnings or wages in a given state. State public schools are supposed to be funded by our tax dollars, but we cannot even trust our states to provide the schools with the money. As a nation, there needs to be legislation restricting state schools from ballooning their tuition rates because the interest of these schools should not be to make money, but to provide education for the people.”
This method has some merit, however, since it is unlikely that the economy will turn around anytime soon, Davis may have more realistic ideas.
“To reduce student loans we could continue to reach out to alumni for donations, make students aware of scholarships that few people seem to apply to or don’t apply to at all, and maybe increase pay for graduates who have assistantships or fellowships. This creates more an incentive for them to stay in school and do well because they know that they will lose these forms of aid if they do not.”
While the massive reliance on student loans is depressing the value of higher education and increasing debt at the individual level, it also factors into the shrinking of the middle class, greater impoverishment among minorities, and the increased impoverishment of those already in poverty. The true impact of this on the overall US economy is unknown. However, it is clear that the need for student loans is detrimental to future generations. The more expensive school becomes, the more students will be forced to take out loans. When they graduate, students will be one of the first groups to take a hit because of the fluctuating economy. In addition, many will choose not to pursue higher education at all, this will be true especially among minorities.  We need to rally against the rise of state school tuition, especially at the University of Illinois, and be more adamant about scholarships and state tax money going to state schools. Only then will our future graduates have a fair chance of making it in America.

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Consumer Debt’s Central Role in Finance-led Capitalism and Class Warfare-An Organizing Opportunity

Posted on 10/18/2011 by David Green

“For at least five thousand years, popular movements have tended to center on struggles over debt—this was true long before capitalism even existed. There is a reason for this. Debt is the most efficient means ever created to take relations that are fundamentally based on violence and violent inequality and to make them seem right and moral to everyone concerned. When the trick no longer works, everything explodes. As it is now. Clearly, debt has shown itself to be the point of greatest weakness of the system, the point where it spirals out of anyone’s control. It also allows endless opportunities for organizing.”

David Graeber, “Hope in Common” – Znet, 5/21/09

David Graeber articulates a long-term critique of debt that incorporates both macroeconomic (government and state, especially war-related) debt and microeconomic (business and consumer, especially inequality-related) debt. Moreover, Graeber’s critique includes both pre-capitalist and capitalist aspects.

A more temporally focused consideration on debt would consider—over the past century—first, Keynesian macroeconomic “pump-priming” deficit spending policies in the quarter-century after World War II; second, neoliberal macroeconomic policies beginning in the 1970s, especially in relation to so-called “free trade” and the balance of payments problem that has made the U.S. an international debtor; and finally, increased household debt (mortgage, credit card, student) as a central microeconomic component of neoliberal globalization, which also has entailed “finance-led” capitalism, outsourcing, stagnant wages, and growing inequality.

Those of us who have been around since the New Deal, or at least since the 1950s, can be forgiven some nostalgia about the role of federal deficit spending in compensating for cyclical downturns in consumer demand during that era. Nevertheless, postwar prosperity was highly dependent on military-related deficit spending, and the growth of the hegemonic and national security state during the Cold War did not bode well in the longer run for labor unions or the larger American working class.

Popular movements in the 1960s were not only unable to successfully address economic injustice, but have been since overwhelmed by the relentless concentration of economic wealth and power during the neoliberal era, the basic policies of which were quite consciously formulated by multi-national economic elites beginning in the mid-1970s, as evidenced by the Trilateral Commission.

Thus in their 2008 paper “Consumer Debt at the Center of Finance-Led Capitalism,” Robert Guttman and Dominique Philon write:

“Financialization has been a global process initiated first in the US and UK during the late 1970s from where it spread at different paces to other major industrial countries. Deregulation (of banks), globalization and financial innovations played a major role in this global convergence process toward finance-led capitalism. France was certainly one of the European countries where changes were the most profound and rapid. … The new regime puts financial motives, instruments, and markets at the center of its growth process. … There are three inter-related forces behind this fundamental change in the modus operandi of capitalism—increased reliance on debt across the entire range of economic activities, the facilitation of such debt-financing by financial innovation, and financial globalization as the most transcendental force in the internationalization of capital.”

The military Keynesianism of the 1950s and 60s, which was also characterized by genuine investment in terms of research and infrastructure, has given way to the “consumer Keynesianism” of the past three decades, primarily in relation to the speculative natures of the dotcom bubble of the 1990s and the housing bubble of the last decade. While the earlier policy promoted both public and business investment, the more recent policy has increasingly depended on household borrowing, which neglects investment in increased productivity.

Increased household borrowing is systemically related to both stagnant wages for the bottom 80% and an increased share of private consumption (rather than pubic spending or public/private investment) as a percentage of GDP, from below 65% in 1980 to above 70% presently. Fred Moseley in  the International Socialist Review summarizes this process:

“Workers were strapped with stagnant wages and were all too eager to borrow money to buy a house or a new car, and sometimes even basic necessities. Financial corporations increasingly focused on workers as their borrower-customers, especially for home mortgages. The percentage of bank lending to households increased from 30 percent in 1970 to 50 percent in 2006. The total value of home mortgages tripled between 1998 and 2006. And the ratio of household debt to disposable income increased from 60 percent in 1970 to 100 percent in 2000 to 140 percent in 2007. This was an extraordinary increase of household debt, unprecedented in U.S. history.”

Household borrowing has been not only a means of maintaining consumption in the face of stagnant wages, but of generating profits for the financial sector. Radical economist Richard Wolff asserts that “In effect, US capitalism thereby substituted rising loans for rising wages to workers. It took from them twice: first, the surplus their labor produced; and second, the interest on the surpluses lent back to them.”

While mortgage lending constitutes the vast majority of household indebtedness, the symbiotic relationship between the housing bubble and credit card debt is central, even beyond the fact that credit card debt has been recklessly securitized along with mortgage debt. As home prices increased and homeowners perceived themselves as increasingly wealthy during the last decade, market value and equity provided a “rational” basis for increased borrowing for automobiles and on credit cards. Obviously this all came crashing down in 2008.

Two additional observations help to complete the picture: First, as anyone familiar with economic inequality might predict, the bottom 90% of the population owns 19% of the wealth, but 73% of the debt. Second, renters are as a group about half as wealthy as homeowners, and are significantly more in debt relative to income, notwithstanding their lack of mortgage debt.

Thus the systemic dependence of finance-led neoliberal capitalism on consumer debt and its irresponsible promotion (and subsequent reckless securitization) by increasingly dominant financial corporations clearly debunk any meaningful role of “personal responsibility” in our current crisis—except on the part of the captains of finance. As John Bellamy Foster has stated, our recent economic expansions (and the concentrated profits that go with them) have “been bought on consumer debt.” Wolff concludes: “Finance has been grossly mismanaged by the institution of the corporation under deregulation: hence the crisis. Responding to this fact requires more than government reregulation. We need also to change the corporation in basic ways that can avoid or correct financial mismanagement.”

For the “99%”, these stark and class-driven realities, their historical context, and their material urgency all create “endless opportunities for organizing.” Whatever the practical and “realistic” responses, they might begin with the conclusion that in the current system, debt of all kinds is fundamentally onerous as a tool of class warfare.

 

 

Posted in Labor/Economics, Politics | Comments Off on Consumer Debt’s Central Role in Finance-led Capitalism and Class Warfare-An Organizing Opportunity

What Has 9/11 Done to the United States?

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Belden Fields

In the October 2001 issue of the Public i, I examined elements of US policy that might have contributed to the 9/11 attack terrorist act that violated the human rights of the people killed and injured. Here I want to explore the lasting costs inflicted on the US.

Economic Costs

According to the Congressional Research Service, “With enactment of the sixth FY2011 Continuing Resolution through March 18, 2011…Congress has approved a total of $1.283 trillion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks.” Much of the day-to-day work supporting military action is being done by for-profit organizations. One can only imagine how many domestic social service, educational, and infrastructure needs could have been met with these amounts of money.

The $1.283 trillion does not include money spent by the 15 national government intelligence/security units on domestic anti-terrorism, nor the money handed over to private intelligence contractors like Booz Allen Hamilton. The politicians who have made these appropriations benefit from the war on terror in unprecedented ways. As is the case with the corporations contracting on field operations projects, these corporations are very well connected politically. Key players at the Carlyle Group-owners of Booz Allen Hamilton- include people from the two Bush administrations (including Bush Jr. himself) and the Clinton administrations. Former British Conservative Prime Minister, John Major, heads Carlyle’s European division. The war on terror is big business just as are the “wars” on crime, drugs, and illegal immigration.

Political Costs

By declaring war on terror, the US has entered into an era of permanent war. At a record ten consecutive years and counting, there is no end in sight. While the profit motive feeds this reality, it continues also because post-World War II era wars cannot be won in the sense of one side clearly defeating the other in battle. Nobody surrenders anymore. Continuous attrition drove the US out of Vietnam and the Russians out of Afghanistan. However, since this ‶war″ began with an attack on US territory by an external force, the human and economic costs of remaining are countered by fears of future vulnerability and attack.

A permanent state of war without hope of a military victory demoralizes the country and distorts the political system. This is illustrated in the diminishing of our civil liberties through political acts like the 2011 Patriot Act. We continue to be subject to this act which expanded the ability of law enforcement agencies to intrude into people’s private records and enhanced the ability of government to detain and/or deport immigrants suspected of engaging or abetting  acts of terrorism-however broadly or vaguely these are defined. The treatment of Professor Francis Boyle (see article in this issue) provides a powerful example of where this can lead.

The Department of Homeland Security, purportedly created to counter terrorism, has established “fusion centers” across the country to link federal, state, and local policing bodies to deal with “all crimes and hazards.” This seems to be an extremely broad and ill defined scope for a department created to fight terrorism. It calls to mind some of the more frightening images of other secretive policing operations during the Cold War, such as the FBI’s COINTEL  penetration and disruption program against left-wing and anti-Vietnam War groups..

Now there is a growing propensity to see those expressing dissent through protest in the US and abroad as potential or actual terrorists. In the October 2008 issue of the Public i, I discussed in depth the infiltration, harassment, beating, and arrests of protesters and journalists by a combination of policing bodies at the 2002 World Economic Forum, the 2003 Free Trade of the Americas meetings, and the 2004 and 2008 Republican National Conventions. There were even “preventive arrests” a week before the actual events.

Our attitudes toward and policies related to the separation of powers enshrined in our constitution have been further eroded post 9/11. Reagan and George W. Bush ignored the War Powers Act that requires congressional notification and approval before committing troops. Many Obama supporters anticipated that he would restore the balance between the legislature and the executive by respecting the act; Libya proved otherwise. In this state of permanent war against terrorism, the executive in either party is apparently going to preserve the maximum flexibility when it comes to the use of armed force, at home and abroad.

Moreover, the war on terror is isolating us internationally, particularly in the eyes of non-Europeans. We are viewed as hypocrits and  have lost respect and trust due to the US government selectiveness in definitions of what is an act of terrorism and what is a justifiable uprising, what is an oppressive regime and what is a political ally. Many cruel regimes have learned that they can gain a propaganda edge by labeling their opponents, whether armed or peaceful, as “terrorists” and the US government will remain silent if thinks that it is in the US’s interest to preserve the oppressive regimes-just look at Bahrain.

Moral Costs

The use of torture by American troops, intelligence agents, and contractors in interrogations, and the sanctioning of that use by the Bush Justice Department have brought the US to a new low. While Americans have engaged in torture of prisoners before, it had never before been systematized, publicized, and defended by a president and his administration. The mistreatment of prisoners in Guantanamo provided a tangible picture these practices. However, we seem not to have grown from our knowledge. President Obama has not followed through on his promise to close Guantanamo. People are still being held there after years of confinement without trial or due process of law. The myth that they are now being held in Cuba and not the United States is a geographical, but not a moral, distinction.

While the American media is quick to show photos of torture centers in Libya, the US government has been complicit in that torture as well. Prior to the uprising, we sent Libyans who opposed the Qaddafi regime back to Libya. In so-called “renditions,” the US also sent people to Egypt, Morocco, and Thailand to be tortured, often before the eyes of US agents.

Finally, the moral repercussions are rooting deeply in our daily lives. Islamophobia is on the rise in neighborhoods across the US. The mere sight of an Islamic person, or someone who is suspected of being  Muslim, carries with it associations with terrorism in the minds of too many citizens. This had added another sorry dimension to racism in our society.

Conclusion

Those who struck on 9/11 succeeded in delivering enduring harm to the US. Though Osama Bin Laden and many people in Al Qaeda have been killed, and there has been no major strike on the order of 9/11, the damage continues. Our government has too often aided and abetted the terrorists by its very responses to their terror.

Posted in Human Rights, International, Politics | Comments Off on What Has 9/11 Done to the United States?

Sweet Corn Festival Brings Major Disappointment

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Safiya Noble


At a time when our community has been so significantly impacted by the death of a young African-American man at the hands of the Champaign Police, we continue to be mourning and healing. I teach courses on race, gender and cross-cultural understanding at the University of Illinois, and I was shocked to have recruited friends, family and colleagues to serve in a ticket booth at a festival environment that openly tolerates racist and white supremacist symbols. Sadly, I must say that the Sweetcorn Fest was a grave disappointment this year.

It was surreal to show up for my volunteer shift, as I have done for several years now, to find a Confederate flag — a symbol of racial hostility and fear for many African-Americans, of which I myself am — hanging up in a vendor booth at the festival. I was forced to take my seat in the ticket booth at Broadway and Main streets in Urbana, just a few feet from this symbol, which made me uncomfortable and concerned. I did this because I chose to honor my commitment to the Urbana Business Association (UBA) rather than walk away and leave my friends in a bind without the help I knew was needed. I have deep respect for those who have recruited me to volunteer each year and I always enjoyed myself.

However, I do not understand how this year the UBA could produce a family-friendly event and allow such hostile symbols toward African-Americans, Jewish people, gay/lesbian and transgender community, immigrants, non-Christians, non-Whites, feminists and others who continue to be targeted by organizations that embrace this flag/symbol to be sold by a vendor.

Would they also allow a flag with a swastika to be so prominently displayed, and then hide behind the notion that a vendor has a right to display and sell any wares they want? No, I assert, they would not. Freedom of expression, including the freedom of speech, has limits and comes with responsibilities. The exercise of “freedom of speech” rights carries “special duties and responsibilities” and may “therefore be subject to certain restrictions” when necessary “for respect of the rights or reputation of others” or “for the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals” (Article 19, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1976).

In the United States, freedom of expression does not protect hate speech, for instance. I believe, as do many others, that it is not helpful to pretend or deny what the confederate flag symbolizes to many people, and how it’s associated with the neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and Aryan organizations. Sure, it may not have the global stigmatization of the swastika (once known solely as a symbol of good luck), but it’s cut from the same racist cloth. It is not simply a relic of the U.S. Civil War of the past, it is actively engaged with and embraced as a banner of hate groups in the United States today.

I recognize that the UBA team is without an executive director and that a group of tireless, wonderful volunteers made this year’s festival happen. I also believe there is still a board of directors, and I believe that there must be someone or many who feel a collective sense of responsibility for the success of the Sweetcorn Fest. I feel that responsibility as a volunteer and a member of this community, which is why I am writing to you to raise awareness.

I certainly hope that as they hire someone, they will have the sensitivity to recognize the ways in which safe events can occur that do not offend the sensibilities of many members of our community with such a blatant disregard. I hope that we all will support them in this process and send solid candidates their way as a proactive response to this disappointment.

My hope is that racist symbols will not continue to be in the backdrop of our community festivities, and that I will not have to explain these contradictions to my child. At one moment I am teaching him to stay safe and away from spaces where these flags fly because they signal racial hatred toward us, and at the next I am taking him to the Sweetcorn Festival where they are for sale? I do not believe it is sufficient to tell him people have the right to sell symbols of hate. I want a better community than that for him, for all our children, and ourselves.

Change can be realized through listening, but it becomes real through policies and intentionality to foster respect and equality. I hope that my concerns, which I have also sent in an email to events@urbanabusiness.com, will be heard and regarded as an opportunity and a teachable moment. I will certainly take this year’s experience into consideration the next time I am called upon to volunteer, participate in, or endorse any community event where confederate flags and other racist memorabilia are casually allowed to be sold by vendors. Many times these traveling salespeople come through and wreak havoc, but we are complicit if we silently allow it or shrug it off as inconsequential.

This article is reprinted with permission from SmilePolitely.com where it originally appeared.

Posted in African Americans, Community Forum | Comments Off on Sweet Corn Festival Brings Major Disappointment

Update on the Case of “Homeless” Bill Walton

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Chris Evans

On Wednesday, August 3, 2011, two Urbana police officers approached “homeless” Bill Walton in the foyer of the Urbana City Building and asked him if he would come with them, pursuant to a court order that Walton be “medically” evaluated. Attorney Deb Frank Feinen had petitioned the circuit court on July 5 to mandate Walton be medically evaluated and if a disability was determined, be assigned a permanent guardian. Officers were ordered to drive Walton to the Danville Veteran’s Hospital rather than Carle Clinic where Walton has been seen before. Walton complied without incident.

It is the right of those being declared disabled and in need of permanent guardianship to attend their own hearings. After the “medical” evaluation on Friday, August 5, Walton was refused release from the Danville VA without formal commitment hearings, and without a voluntary signing-in by Walton. Guardian Ad Litem, attorney Andrew Bequette, was quoted by the News-Gazette’s Jim Dey in an August 6 column that Bequette, “certainly hoped” that Wallter would be present at the coming August 8 hearing. The stranger quote by Dey in the August 6 column is from both petitioning attorney Feinen and attorney Bequette that neither attorney knew the whereabouts of Walton at the time., It’s likely that both attorneys knew exactly where Walton was but nobody wanted to admit the bizarre legal limbo Walton had been placed in―involuntary confinement at the VA without a legal justification.

Despite Bequette’s wish that his client attend the hearing of August 8, no police officers were summoned to drive Walton back to the Champaign County Courthouse for the 1:30 p.m. hearing. As reported by the Independent Media Center’s Brian Dolinar, who was allowed to attend the hearing, no reason was given for Walton’s absence, other than Walton was in a secure unit because of “wandering” tendencies, a legal standard unheard of for an involuntary commitment. Anticipating Judge Brian McPheters’ later decision, Dr. Lori DeYoung of VA Illiana Health Care System testified that if Bill wanted to leave the hospital, the Public Guardian of Champaign County, Joseph Brown, would have to approve whether Bill would be allowed to leave the hospital. According to Dolinar, DeYoung further assured the court that Walton would be allowed visitors at the hospital. “It helps in their recovery,” DeYoung said. Feinen cross-examined DeYoung’s allowance for visitors, asking DeYoung if the guardian would have to approve who sees Bill at the VA. DeYoung answered, “If the guardian prohibited visits, we [the VA] would follow.” Despite attorney Bequette’s reading of a medical report in open court that indicated Walton wanted to leave the hospital, Dey refused to publish Bill’s desire in his news article that appeared August 9.

The most disturbing part of the case is Judge McPheters’ decision to allow the Public Guardian, Joe Brown, a former sheriff of Champaign County, temporary guardianship over Walton when Walton’s assets are listed by attorney Feinen to be zero. Public Guardians can only be assigned as guardians when the ward has an estate valued over $25,000. Attorney Feinen has claimed that she is acting on behalf of petitioner Patricia Babich-Smith, program manager at the Family Service Senior Resource Center, because Feinen thinks Walton “needs help.” It should be noted that “the help” Feinen’s petition seeks is that the Public Guardian be placed as permanent guardian over Walton, and that the Public Guardian be granted authority to put Walton in a residential facility over any objections from Walton.

On August 14, this writer and a friend, Sandra Ahten, attempted to visit Walton at the VA. After traversing a labyrinth of hallways deep inside Building No. 98, we were asked to sign in and escorted to a visitor’s room where the visit with Walton would take place. A nurse opened the door and a clean shaven Bill Walton walked in. Walton was confused by our presence since he did not know who we were. Without Bill’s beard of three decades, we hardly recognized him either. Nonetheless, he shook our hands and politely asked if he could sit down. I noticed Bill’s breathing remains labored, almost asthmatic.

During our visit, Sandra asked Walton if he missed Urbana, and Walton said, “Very much. I’d like to go back to Urbana.” I asked Walton if he was feeling better, and Walton replied, “I’d be much better if it were Urbana…rather than Danville.” At that point, nurses nervously re-entered our room and asked what our relationship to Mr. Walton was. When we explained we were friends from Bill’s neighborhood and we were there to offer Bill some company from home, the nurses countered that Walton, “has legal issues and we can’t just let anyone in here to see him.” The nurse said, “He has a power of attorney now…and they can pick and choose―they can say who they want to visit and who they don’t, and they gave a list of visitors. Your name is not on it.” They said we would have to leave. They were apologetic but firm. Bill seemed sad and confused as we said goodbye to him. Bill made a point of telling us again, “I’d like to get back to Urbana at some point, please.”

Sandra then attempted to be placed on the list of visitors. After contacting Natalie Liggett, a social worker at the VA, Sandra was referred to the Temporary Guardian, Joe Brown for approval. On August 23, Brown refused her request claiming that Bill doesn’t want to see anyone. When she recounted that Bill seemed willing, and even pleased to have visitors when we saw him on the 14th, Brown said he would check with Bill. On August 25, Brown refused her request again to see Bill, stating that, “He doesn’t want any visitors.” Finding that difficult to believe, given the fact that Bill was eager to spend time with us before, she challenged the notion, asking, “How can you be sure?” Brown replied, “All I can go by is what he told me and he told me he doesn’t feel up to visitors.”

Walton’s next hearing is September 19, 2:00 p.m. in courtroom J. At that hearing William Weisiger, a local gun dealer and childhood friend of Walton’s, will be named personal guardian. Those of us who wish to sit quietly about town are advised to learn the lessons from this case. Attorney Feinen seeks to be Mayor of Champaign in 2015 and sitting quietly won’t be allowed apparently.

Posted in Homelessness | Comments Off on Update on the Case of “Homeless” Bill Walton

Emails Leaked at IMC Web Site Detailing the Internal Struggles of the Champaign Police Department

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Brian Dolinar

Operating for more than a decade, the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center website has become known as a local source for exposing police misconduct. For perhaps the first time at any IMC site, somebody from behind the “blue line” leaked information revealing the internal disputes among police. An anonymous post at ucimc.org suggests that the recently announced retirement of Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney may have been forced.

When ucimc.org went live on September 24, 2000, it was part of a revolution taking place on the World Wide Web. Like other IMCs spreading around the globe, it took a strong stance on anonymous posting. The policy was following the IMC ethic of allowing anyone to “become the media.” Anonymous posting would also make it more difficult for governments to track down activists putting things online that might be deemed “subversive.”

This was before the widespread proliferation of blogs and online publishing sites. This was before 9/11 and passage of the PATRIOT Act. This was before WikiLeaks.

On Friday, August 19, 2011, I had been hearing rumors that Chief Finney was calling it quits. Since his involvement in the shooting death of Kiwane Carrington in 2009, many had publicly called for Finney’s dismissal. One individual even took out an ad in the News-Gazette urging city leaders to “Fire Finney.”

The City of Champaign announced Finney’s retirement in a press release posted at their web site on Friday at approximately 3:30 p.m. In the press release, Finney said it was with “great joy and trepidation” that he was retiring. City manager Steve Carter praised Finney for what he called an “outstanding career in law enforcement.” But few knew how embattled the Champaign Police Department truly was.

At 3:42, a brief announcement was posted at ucimc.org by this author with news of that Finney was stepping down as chief. At 3:59, an email was posted in the comment section by an anonymous person either from within the Champaign Police Department or someone close to the police. It was titled “Retire or Resign You Decide.” The anonymous poster prefaced the email with a statement that began, “Time for the truth.” They were posting the copy of an email sent to all city council members and upper city staff. A “rift” existed between staff and management. It was time the city council “takes action and fixes the leadership.”

The email, also anonymously written, explains how “a group of officers of various ranks and positions” had come together to address the lack of integrity among the department leadership. All other means of recourse had been exhausted to “compel management to take appropriate action.” It was after “considerable debate and internal struggle” that the email was sent to city council who they hoped would have “the power and fortitude” to make a change.

The group had hoped the problems could be addressed internally and would not “find their way into the public domain,” but executive decisions in the “last several years” had led to a low morale that has not been “seen or felt in decades.”

According to the email, problems began in 2008 when a performance test was initiated to be used in making decisions of who would be promoted from sergeant to lieutenant. The email claims that lieutenant Scott Swan, deputy chief John Murphy and sergeant Tom Walker had worked together on various drug units and were close friends. It alleges that with the help of Swan, who had worked with a contractor in developing the test, Walker was able to score 98% on the written exam, 20 percentage points above his peers. The issue was taken up with Finney, the email states, but nothing was done.

Walker was then tapped to help Finney gain the accreditation he was seeking from ILEAP, an organization of which Finney was himself the vice-president. Walker was also tasked with implementing a program called Intelligence Lead Policing. A bill was placed before city council in March 2011 that included the permanent promotion of Walker to lieutenant, with Murphy advocating for him, but it failed and Walker was to remain a sergeant.

On April 18, 2011, seven sergeants met with city manager Steve Carter to take up the unfair treatment. No action was taken by Carter and some of those who participated in the meeting were later penalized for their involvement.

On August 8, 2011, overall results of the exams were posted with Walker registering the second highest score, and those among the seven sergeants being given the lowest scores. The group responsible for the email was asking for an independent investigation by the Illinois State Police or the FBI.

The right-wing News-Gazette also posted the announcement of Finney’s retirement at its web site, largely reprinting what had been stated in the press release. At 6:08 p.m., a person identified as “JSmith68” posted a comment under the story that read, “Check out the Independent Media Center website. Has a very interesting email sent to the council on there from someone obviously within the department.”

At 8:08, Dan Corkery, the managing editor of the News-Gazette posted a comment, “Why bother trying to find that website. The text of the email is here:” and provided a link to the address where they had reprinted the email. The News-Gazette has for a long time held the IMC in contempt what they regard as its radical political views, as well as for challenging its virtual monopoly on the local news.

On August 25, a second leak was posted at ucimc.org, this time an internal memo from city manager Steve Carter sent that day to all Champaign Police Department Personnel. Carter assured employees that their concerns were taken “seriously.” Carter invited employees to bring any issues to him personally and they would be looked at in a “fair and responsive manner.”

The anonymous poster of the second leak commented, “They just don’t get it at the City Building. We need someone to come over and speak with all the officers with full assurances that what they say will be confidential. Let them find out the truth. NOTION will change until Deputy Chief Murphy is asked to leave………nothing!!!!”

It is important to recognize that these two leaks first became public at ucimc.org. The News-Gazette, when they did get a copy of the email, first got statements from Finney and Carter saying that these issues had been known about for some time and were being taken seriously. Other local news sources cited the initial email but failed to acknowledge where it first appeared.

The policy of anonymous posting at ucimc.org has allowed at least one individual to blow the whistle on the unfair labor practices within the Champaign Police Department. That the leaks appeared at ucimc.org, a known police watchdog, is a sign of how bad things have become. It also indicates that pressure from both inside and outside the department may have led to Finney’s early retirement at only 51 years old.

At the Champaign city council meeting on September 6, local activist Martel Miller referred to the email and called on the council to act. “[Finney] shouldn’t get to retire,” said Miller. “He should be made to resign.” Miller’s statements were met with silence. As to date, the council has lacked the “fortitude” to respond.

 

Emails Leaked at IMC Web Site Detailing the Internal Struggles of the Champaign Police Department

By Brian Dolinar

 

Operating for more than a decade, the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center website has become known as a local source for exposing police misconduct. For perhaps the first time at any IMC site, somebody from behind the “blue line” leaked information revealing the internal disputes among police. An anonymous post at ucimc.org suggests that the recently announced retirement of Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney may have been forced.

 

When ucimc.org went live on September 24, 2000, it was part of a revolution taking place on the World Wide Web. Like other IMCs spreading around the globe, it took a strong stance on anonymous posting. The policy was following the IMC ethic of allowing anyone to “become the media.” Anonymous posting would also make it more difficult for governments to track down activists putting things online that might be deemed “subversive.”

 

This was before the widespread proliferation of blogs and online publishing sites. This was before 9/11 and passage of the PATRIOT Act. This was before WikiLeaks.

 

On Friday, August 19, 2011, I had been hearing rumors that Chief Finney was calling it quits. Since his involvement in the shooting death of Kiwane Carrington in 2009, many had publicly called for Finney’s dismissal. One individual even took out an ad in the News-Gazette urging city leaders to “Fire Finney.”

 

The City of Champaign announced Finney’s retirement in a press release posted at their web site on Friday at approximately 3:30 p.m. In the press release, Finney said it was with “great joy and trepidation” that he was retiring. City manager Steve Carter praised Finney for what he called an “outstanding career in law enforcement.” But few knew how embattled the Champaign Police Department truly was.

 

At 3:42, a brief announcement was posted at ucimc.org by this author with news of that Finney was stepping down as chief. At 3:59, an email was posted in the comment section by an anonymous person either from within the Champaign Police Department or someone close to the police. It was titled “Retire or Resign You Decide.” The anonymous poster prefaced the email with a statement that began, “Time for the truth.” They were posting the copy of an email sent to all city council members and upper city staff. A “rift” existed between staff and management. It was time the city council “takes action and fixes the leadership.”

 

The email, also anonymously written, explains how “a group of officers of various ranks and positions” had come together to address the lack of integrity among the department leadership. All other means of recourse had been exhausted to “compel management to take appropriate action.” It was after “considerable debate and internal struggle” that the email was sent to city council who they hoped would have “the power and fortitude” to make a change.

 

The group had hoped the problems could be addressed internally and would not “find their way into the public domain,” but executive decisions in the “last several years” had led to a low morale that has not been “seen or felt in decades.”


According to the email, problems began in 2008 when a performance test was initiated to be used in making decisions of who would be promoted from sergeant to lieutenant. The email claims that lieutenant Scott Swan, deputy chief John Murphy and sergeant Tom Walker had worked together on various drug units and were close friends. It alleges that with the help of Swan, who had worked with a contractor in developing the test, Walker was able to score 98% on the written exam, 20 percentage points above his peers. The issue was taken up with Finney, the email states, but nothing was done.

 

Walker was then tapped to help Finney gain the accreditation he was seeking from ILEAP, an organization of which Finney was himself the vice-president. Walker was also tasked with implementing a program called Intelligence Lead Policing. A bill was placed before city council in March 2011 that included the permanent promotion of Walker to lieutenant, with Murphy advocating for him, but it failed and Walker was to remain a sergeant.

 

On April 18, 2011, seven sergeants met with city manager Steve Carter to take up the unfair treatment. No action was taken by Carter and some of those who participated in the meeting were later penalized for their involvement.

 

On August 8, 2011, overall results of the exams were posted with Walker registering the second highest score, and those among the seven sergeants being given the lowest scores. The group responsible for the email was asking for an independent investigation by the Illinois State Police or the FBI.

 

The right-wing News-Gazette also posted the announcement of Finney’s retirement at its web site, largely reprinting what had been stated in the press release. At 6:08 p.m., a person identified as “JSmith68” posted a comment under the story that read, “Check out the Independent Media Center website. Has a very interesting email sent to the council on there from someone obviously within the department.”

 

At 8:08, Dan Corkery, the managing editor of the News-Gazette posted a comment, “Why bother trying to find that website. The text of the email is here:” and provided a link to the address where they had reprinted the email. The News-Gazette has for a long time held the IMC in contempt what they regard as its radical political views, as well as for challenging its virtual monopoly on the local news.

 

On August 25, a second leak was posted at ucimc.org, this time an internal memo from city manager Steve Carter sent that day to all Champaign Police Department Personnel. Carter assured employees that their concerns were taken “seriously.” Carter invited employees to bring any issues to him personally and they would be looked at in a “fair and responsive manner.”

 

The anonymous poster of the second leak commented, “They just don’t get it at the City Building. We need someone to come over and speak with all the officers with full assurances that what they say will be confidential. Let them find out the truth. NOTION will change until Deputy Chief Murphy is asked to leave………nothing!!!!”

 

It is important to recognize that these two leaks first became public at ucimc.org. The News-Gazette, when they did get a copy of the email, first got statements from Finney and Carter saying that these issues had been known about for some time and were being taken seriously. Other local news sources cited the initial email but failed to acknowledge where it first appeared.

 

The policy of anonymous posting at ucimc.org has allowed at least one individual to blow the whistle on the unfair labor practices within the Champaign Police Department. That the leaks appeared at ucimc.org, a known police watchdog, is a sign of how bad things have become. It also indicates that pressure from both inside and outside the department may have led to Finney’s early retirement at only 51 years old.

 

At the Champaign city council meeting on September 6, local activist Martel Miller referred to the email and called on the council to act. “[Finney] shouldn’t get to retire,” said Miller. “He should be made to resign.” Miller’s statements were met with silence. As to date, the council has lacked the “fortitude” to respond. 

 

 

Posted in Policing | Comments Off on Emails Leaked at IMC Web Site Detailing the Internal Struggles of the Champaign Police Department

National Public Lands Day: Local Opportunity

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Marya Burke

The East Central Illinois Master Naturalist (ECIMN) program is fostering National Public Lands Day (NPLD), which will take place on September 24, 2011. Coordinated nationally by the National Environmental Education Foundation, NPLD is an event held annually on the last Saturday in September that promotes shared stewardship for our public lands within the community, the media, and among policy makers. NPLD builds a strong conservation ethic among participants through site-based environmental education and hands on work. 2011 will mark the sixteenth annual NPLD. All types of public lands, from state or county nature preserves to tiny urban parks, are included in NPLD. In 2010, a record 170,000 volunteers participated at more than 2,300 sites coast to coast, making NPLD the largest volunteer, hands-on effort of its kind in the country. Through their efforts, volunteers contributed about $14 million in improvements.

 

Here in East Central Illinois

Last year, 33 of the NPLD sites were in Illinois but none were in our region. ECIMN Program Committee members have been working through the summer with our partnering agencies foster participation right here in East Central Illinois—this will lead to direct benefits for local sites and instill a sense of pride in linking to the national effort.

 

ECIMN program is sponsoring an NPLD event at the I-72 Demonstration Prairie, where our members will work with the public to remove invasives, plant more native species, and clean up the area. In addition, we will have tours of the area and provide additional information about the goals of the demonstration prairie. In addition, Grand Prairie Friends will sponsor an event at Loda Cemetery Prairie, Urbana Park District will conduct work at Meadowbrook Park, and Allerton Allies will meet on that day for stewardship at Allerton Park. Additional organizations that are planning events include Champaign Park District at Heritage Park, Champaign County Forest Preserve District at Buffalo Trace, and the University of Illinois Pollinatarium.

 

Get Involved!

Volunteer opportunities include work outdoors and help with planning and logistics for September 24, so there should be a place for everyone. Visit the NPLD web site www.publiclandsday.org for information on each project. Some require advance registration and can accommodate a limited number of participants.Need additional information? Get in touch with ECIMN Program Committee chair Alice Berkson at berksonalice@gmail.com.

 

 

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Ironworkers at Labor Day Parade Pose for a Photo with the Latest Public i

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Brian Dolinar

Posted in Labor/Economics, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Ironworkers at Labor Day Parade Pose for a Photo with the Latest Public i

Urbana Labor Day Marchers Stand with Wisconsin Workers

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Brian Dolinar

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Mother Jones Spotted at Labor Day Parade

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Brian Dolinar

Many were at the Labor Day Parade in Urbana, Illinois, including Germaine Light who dressed up as Mother Jones and marched with the local chapter of Jobs With Justice.

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Champaign-Urbana to Host International Restorative Justice Learning Event

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Mikhail Lyubansky
Seventeen years ago, Dominic Barter walked into a shantytown near his home in Rio de Janeiro with a question – what happens when I walk toward conflict, rather than away from it? Could it be that conflict becomes violent when we attempt to suppress it and that moving toward it might actually increase safety?The process that emerged from these meetings supports people to walk toward their conflicts with each other and to have their fights in more effective ways, increasing community and individual safety, resilience, and well-being.Known as Restorative Circles (RC), it has been used in families, schools, courts, workplaces, neighborhoods, churches, and other communities in over 20 countries, in response to situations ranging from name calling to
homicide. The award-winning projects in Brazil rate highly in participant satisfaction, reduced recidivism rates, and decreased costs.Now Dominic is coming to Champaign-Urbana to share what he’s learned from his experiences with RC and to support those present to bring this learning into places where we live, work, learn, play and pray.
Overview: October 12, 8:30am – 9:30pmFacilitation Practice: October 13-15, 8:30 – 9:30pm,

October 16, 8:30 – 6pm

 

Independent Media Center (IMC)

202 South Broadway #100, Urbana, IL

 

For information about the events and to register: tinyurl.com/restorativecu    (or call 217-722-3471)

 

For information about RC: www.restorativecircles.org

 

 

Teachers learning RC, Rondonia, Brazil, 2007

 The Overview will be an interactive day of demonstration and experiential learning, with Dominic presenting the key elements of RC and describing the development of a systemic context that supports its use.The Facilitation Practice will create the conditions for focused exploration, peer support and group practice in the dynamics of RC facilitation for those who want to facilitate RCs in their own communities.About the long days: We have scheduled long days to make the events accessible to people whose schedules vary widely from each other. We hope that scheduling it this way will help everyone who wants to be there to participate in as much of the events as they can. There will, of course, be long breaks for lunch and dinner and shorter breaks throughout the days.

Cost: There is no specific registration or participation fee. During the events, information will be shared on the financial costs of developing this event, RC itself and the projects Dominic and his colleagues support in several countries. Voluntary contributions will be invited to cover these costs.

Sponsors: Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR), ACCESS Initiative, Champaign County, Illinois Office of the State’s Attorney, Julia Rietz, Office of Equal Opportunity and Access (University of Illinois), Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice (CUCPJ), OpEdNews.com, Native American Cultural House, University Housing.

 

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2011 Latin American Film Festival

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Public i

2011 LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
Organized by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS)

September 23-29, 2011
Art Theater, 126 W. Church St., Champaign, IL

También la Lluvia/Even the Rain
FRI Set 23, 6:00 pm / SUN Set 25, 8:40 pm / THU Set 29, 6:00 pm

También la Lluvia sets up an intriguing dialogue about Spanish imperialism through incidents taking place some 500 years apart, while examining the personal belief systems of the members of a film crew headed by director Sebastian (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his producer Costa (Luis Tosar) who arrive in Bolivia to make a revisionist film about the conquest of Latin America. Set in February and March of 2000 when real-life protests against the privatization of water rocked the nation, the film reflexively blurs the line between fiction and reality in what Variety calls “a powerful, richly layered indictment of the plight of Latin America’s dispossessed.” Carlos Aduviri is dynamic as a local who is cast as a 15th century native in the film, but when the make-up and loin cloth come off, he sails into action protesting his community’s deprivation of water at the hands of the government.

Contracorriente/Undertow
SAT Set 24, 7:00 pm / MON Set 26, 6:40 pm / WED Set 28, 8:15 pm

Miguel is a handsome, young and beloved fisherman in Cabo Blanco, a small fishing village in the Northern coast of Peru, where the community has deep-rooted religious traditions. Miguel is married to the beautiful Mariela, who is 7-months pregnant with their firstborn, but Miguel harbors a scandalous secret: He is having a love affair with another man, Santiago, a painter who is ostracized by the townsfolk for being agnostic and open about his sexuality. When Santiago drowns accidentally in the ocean’s strong undertow, he cannot pass peacefully to the other side. He returns after his death to ask Miguel to look for his body and bury it according to the rituals of the town. Miguel must choose between sentencing Santiago to eternal torment or doing right by him and, in turn, revealing their relationship to Mariela and the entire village. Miguel is forced to deal with the consequences of his acts and to come to terms with who he really is, even if by doing so he stands the chance of losing the people he loves the most.

Divã/In Therapy
SAT Set 24, 5:00 pm / TUE Set 27, 8:40 pm / THU Set 29, 8:15 pm

In Therapy tells the story of Mercedes, a forty-some year old woman that is dealing with the pleasures and challenges of modern life. Married and mother of two, Mercedes decides, without being quite sure why, that she’ll start visiting a therapist. And what started as curiosity becomes a devastating experience leading to a series of changes to her daily life. On the psychiatrist couch Mercedes questions her marriage, professional life and her allure. Her best friend, Monica, who has been by her side throughout her life accompanies Mercedes’ transformation and partakes on her new experiences and discoveries, not necessarily agreeing with all of her choices.

Dos Hermanos/Brother and Sister
SAT Set 24, 9:10 pm / MON Set 26, 8:15 pm / WED Set 28, 6:00 pm

They are both alone. They need each other but, at the same time, they despise each other. Siblings Marcos and Susana are unable to heal the old wounds festering within them after the death of their mother. When Susana sells their mother’s flat, she deprives her brother of the home where he had cared for their mother his whole life. Marcos’s need to start living again surfaces when his sister forces him to leave Buenos Aires for Uruguay.

El Traspatio/Backyard
FRI Set 23, 8:15 pm / SUN Set 25, 6:00 pm / TUE Set 27, 6:00 pm

An astonishing fictional account of the unending series of murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which began in 1996. Most of the victims are low-paid laborers who have been drawn to the town by the possibility of work at American-owned factories. In the film Mexican police officer Blanca Bravo is sent to Ciudad Juarez to investigate and comes to learn realities of these women’s lives, as well as the truth about a police force and local power structure embodied by entrepreneur Mickey Santos that has ceased to care.

Mistura/The Power of Food
In Peru, cooking and eating go beyond the kitchen. The nation’s passion for food transcend spots and pans, Peru finds in its cuisine its missing ingredient: A way to celebrate being Peruvian. A way to love, show respect and be proud. Mistura, the gastronomic fair that happens in Lima every September, is the best example. This project is an attempt to capture a slice of the immense spectrum of experiences that are simmered in Mistura every year.A place where cooks and patrons

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Pages for Pennies Book Sale to Benefit Books to Prisoners

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Public i

UC Books to Prisoners is holding its Fall Pages for Pennies Community Book Sale Friday September 30 through Sunday October 2nd.  Tens of thousands of high quality books from fiction to text books will be available.  Come early for the best selection.  On Sunday bring a standard grocery bag to fill for $5.00.

Friday, Sept. 30, 4-8pm
Saturday, Oct. 1, 8-5pm
Sunday, Oct. 2, 10am-2pm* (bag sale all day)

At the Independent Media Center, 202 S. Broadway, downtown Urbana.

Posted in UC-IMC | Comments Off on Pages for Pennies Book Sale to Benefit Books to Prisoners

The Beehive Collective to Come to Urbana

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Public i

The Beehive Collective will bring their exciting, interactive presentation to the UCIMC. Come join us for an evening of art, education, community, and fun.

Thursday October 6th at 7pm
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center

Long exploited as a resource-extraction colony within the US, the
Appalachian Mountains are home to a fight for survival whose outcome will
determine in part the industrial power of this country. Without coal,
there would be no ‘cheap’ electricity. Today’s energy corporations and
government bodies are continuing to show the extent of their violence and
greed as they push their extractive agendas in the “New Coal Rush.”

Our insatiable demand for cheap power has lead to the most extreme,
devastating form of coal mining yet, Mountaintop Removal (MTR). The TRUE
COST OF COAL graphic uses MTR in Appalachia as a lens through which to
understand the historical and contemporary story of ENGERY, RESOURCE
EXTRACTION and of AMERICAN EMPIRE accelerating throughout the world.  We
will expose the DECEPTIONS of CLEAN COAL technologies and bring to light
the ensuing CLIMATE CHAOS facing the world today.

With a gigantic portable teeming with intricate images of plants and
animals from the most bio-diverse temperate forest on the planet, the Bees
will share (and seek) stories of how coal mining and Mountaintop Removal
affect communities and ecosystems throughout Appalachia and beyond.

This graphic also looks to the future, raising questions about resistance,
regeneration, and remediation while celebrating stories of struggle from
mountain communities. The TRUE COST OF COAL will challenge all of us who
casually flip on a light switch to examine our own connections to MTR- and
to think about what we can do to stop it from within our own communities.
Learn more about this graphics campaign at beehivecollective.org

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The Neo or Continuing Haitian Revolution

Posted on 10/02/2011 by William Castro

Is there no end to US ignominy? Will the name “America” go down in history, in real history, as one of the worst plagues to have visited our uncultured humanity? It would seem so, especially if, like me, you have been keeping abreast of Haitian history for say, the last two hundred years. But perhaps you do not even need to “go back” that far. Perhaps only ten years, perhaps only this year will do.

As was reported in the June 8, 2011 issue of The Nation and by Chip Bruce in the August 2011 issue of the Public i, documents released by WikiLeaks have exposed, to the entire planet, the extent of the shameful conspiracy against “Haiti,” against a “democratic” or “popular” Haiti, by our very own “America.” If I put “democratic” under quotes it is because one really begins to wonder what “democracy” really is or means when it can be used with such vicious effect, and for such pernicious reasons.  One begins to wonder if “democracy,” that so-called “instrument of freedom,” should not henceforth be spelled “deMOCKracy,” so as to perennially remind our future generations of the devastating consequences of naively believing oneself to be the “savior” of the world, it’s so-called “leader.”

As The Nation report informs us, “The revelations published so far includes evidence that the US endorsed Haiti’s recent elections despite strong evidence that the results had been falsified; that the US Embassy aided Levi’s and Hanes contractors in their fight against the minimum wage and that the US tried -and failed- to scuttle a Venezuelan oil deal even though it would bring huge benefits to Haiti’s impoverished people” (emphases added). And yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg. For it is what the report does not tell us, or what it perhaps cannot tell us, that is most important.

Why? Why should such a repressive charge, such an awesome amount of violence (political, economic, historical, cultural, social, ideological, sexual) be exercised upon the Haitian people? Why should such enormous energies be spent in repressing, sometimes brutally, our neighbors.

The answer, believe it or not, is quite glaring, even though it lies almost hidden in the very surface of the report itself.  Like a purloined letter in Edgar Allen Poe’s hand, the answer will surface only after we step back and consider the report itself. Only then will you be able to recognize the answer to the riddle: it is the Haitian Revolution. Marx would have called it a specter; but I have seen it first hand, and I know it is real.

The Haitian Revolution could be dated to before 1791, or even before 1752, when the slaves of St. Domingue, led by doctors, cooks, and even Imams, organized devastating assaults against the colonial regime, eventually defeating it and establishing “Haiti” for the first time as a Republic. The conspiracy against Haiti, perhaps even “demockracy” itself, can be dated back to this period.

But the Haitian Revolution can probably also be dated to roughly 1985, when Jean Bertrand Aristide, and the Lavalas movement finally toppled the US-backed dictatorial regime of the Duvaliers.  One can only marvel at the enormous vitality and wisdom of a movement capable of displacing a power such as ours, especially when you consider its origins in one of the smallest and “poorest” countries in the hemisphere.  And as the recent return of Aristide to his native soil after two US-led coup d’etats, and even after Bill Clinton, one of the principal architects of “demockracy” in our recent times, attempted to block it demonstrate, the Haitian Revolution, now dating back more than two hundred years, remains vibrant and well.

But do not just take my word for it.  Go now to your nearest “youtube” station and watch for yourself the images of Haitians celebrating wildly in the streets the nearly unanimous victory of “Tet Kale” (or “Bald Head,” as Michel Martelly is popularly called) over the forces of corruption and political manipulation.  Listen, listen to the people as they tirelessly chant “It is not money; it is our will.”  Witness for yourself the face of the Haitian Revolution, so long suppressed, so long feared.

Make no mistake, however; the Haitian Revolution is not merely, or not simply, political, but it is also cultural, philosophical, moral, and scientific, in a word, “total.”  In this, I believe, resides the secret of its constancy.

Even from its inceptions, the Haitian Revolution, led as it was/is by men and women who were learned in one art or the other, was always a revolution in knowledge.  Not surprisingly, given their “origins” in non-Western philosophical systems, or their uselessness for hierarchical colonization and conquest (as opposed to mutual enrichment), such knowledges were not only ignored, they were actively suppressed.  Such was the case of voodoo or voudoun, an advanced spiritual philosophy that, like few others, profoundly and radically challenges even our most basic interpretations of “reality.”  It is literally inconceivable that the advancement of philosophy in the years to come will not be marked, and marked heavily, by the Haitian Revolution.

Being a revolution in thought, the Haitian Revolution is also a revolution in culture, in world culture.

There is no doubt that “demockracy” will continue to do everything in its power to silence the Haitian Revolution.  Even upon the heels of the democratic victory of Martelly and of the Haitian people, “demockacy” was actively scheming to re-institute political corruption and to regain political control illegally by falsifying elections results, as the report alludes.  But now that the WikiLeaks reports have finally exposed the shamelessness and brutally of the conspiracy against Haiti, we stand poised to enter the Haitian Revolution, and to enter along with it, into a new era in world history, world culture.

An exhibit of photographs from Haiti titled “Haiti Mon Amour” is on display at the IMC until Sept. 22.

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